Trent Williams: Too much made of Shanahan’s comments

Posted by Josh Alper on November 6, 2012, 3:59 PM EST

AP

Redskins coach Mike Shanahan reportedly ruffled some feathers in the Redskins locker room when he said after Sunday’s loss that the rest of the season would be used to evaluate players to see who would be part of the team’s future.

Some felt that Shanahan’s words indicated a shift away from trying to win games, a notion Shanahan tried to reject on Monday and again on Tuesday when he spoke to the players about what he said. Defensive lineman Kedric Golston said that Shanahan got his message across in a better fashion on Tuesday and tackle Trent Williams said he thought too much was being made of the coach’s words in the first place.

“We didn’t take it out of context,” Williams said, via Tarik El-Bashir of CSNWashington.com. “I think [the media] made a bigger deal about it than what we thought it was. We’re all good here.”

Linebacker London Fletcher echoed Williams’ sentiment. He said that he’s seen the culture around the team change for the better since Shanahan has been in charge and that there’s no divide within the team as a result of anything Shanahan said.

“He clarified what he meant, what he was saying, how it wasn’t portrayed the way it needed to be,” Fletcher said, via Grant Paulsen of 106.7 The Fan. “He let us know exactly how he feels about this season and the guys that are in this locker room. There’s no divide.”

Shanahan’s clarification on Monday didn’t ring as particularly persuasive, but the message to the players is pretty much the same no matter how the coach tries to present it. The players in Washington need to play better or they’ll be plying their trade somewhere else.

The only reasonable NFL level talent the previous staff left Shanahan was Brian Orakpo, London Fletcher, and Fred Davis. Before Shanahan got here this team was awful, no way to compete long term with those players. He had to make changes, had to get younger (alot younger). Unfortunately this rebuild will take 5 full years. Redskin fans, myself included, need to realize this. It was even made much more difficult with the bogus 36 Million dollar cap hit. Be patient. It sucks, but its they way it is.

bogus franchise, skins fan here , but im so tired of losing, and hearing all my fellow skins fans talk n hype of rg3 like hes a saviour or something, well newsflash, players of rg3 caliber dont win SB’s.sorry skins fans, but we mortgaged our future on a QB that will continue to take us to mediocre land.

deshackle says:Nov 6, 2012 7:36 PM

It does not take 5 years to build a good football team, especially for a coach with 2 Super bowl rings on his resume. Bring Bill Parcels in and give him 1 or 2 drafts and years of free agency and I’m sure he’d build a good, competitive team.
A team that can be in the conversation for a wild card playoff spot. Joe Gibbs won a playoff game, and was one dropped Carlos Rodgers interception from reaching the conference championship, with the same team Shanahan has now gutted twice. The pistol offense? Whose idea was that? You don’t see the best NFL teams with that. Play some pro football.